title: Dermal graft for protection of the pharyngeal suture line in cancer surgery of the head and neck.
abstract: We studied the effect of free buried dermal grafts to primary pharyngeal closures among 24 nonirradiated patients undergoing radical head and neck surgery to determine if this technique would reduce the incidence of postoperative pharyngocutaneous fistula. For a control group we selected 23 patients who had undergone similar operations as the patients in the study group, but who did not have dermis used for pharyngeal protection. Our results indicate that dermal grafts do not alter the incidence of fistulization following cancer surgery of the head and neck.
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000601:surgery*; D005402:Fistula / Q000517:prevention & control; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D010608:Pharyngeal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous